Taking off in the face of an approaching Hurricane

I can't believe what I just saw!
I was outside looking east at the old ATA hanger that was
battered by Hurricane Charley, when suddenly I heard the
sound of an airplane accelerating.
Then a few seconds later I saw a Cessna (182 or larger)
attempting to climbout.
This plane was rocking, yawing pitching and everything else in
between just to stay aloft.
I was really worried that I was just about to witness a disaster
in the making.
Why this guy waited till 11:25am to leave this area is beyond me.
The ASOS at the field is on because the tower has been
evacuated ever since the winds climbed over 20kts.
The ASOS at the time that this guy lifted off was
reporting winds at 31kts with gusts up to 47kts.

I will probably never know who that was, but if your
the guy and your reading this..... Your Nuts!

Dave (KORL)

The ASOS at the time that this guy lifted off was
reporting winds at 31kts with gusts up to 47kts.

That's *it*?

Shoot, I've flown in 62 knot peak gusts in clear air in Wisconsin. (Not
that I recommend it, mind you...)

I guess I'd have expected a hurricane to be more, well, windy...
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message ...
The ASOS at the time that this guy lifted off was
reporting winds at 31kts with gusts up to 47kts.

That's *it*?

Shoot, I've flown in 62 knot peak gusts in clear air in Wisconsin. (Not
that I recommend it, mind you...)

I guess I'd have expected a hurricane to be more, well, windy...

Jay, I guess that makes you the crazier of the two of us.
But was your 62kts during takeoff with at a 30degree angle to the rwy?
And this guy was also banking his plane onto crosswind at only about
150-200 agl with not much room left for clearing the large hangers,
not to mention that he was flying towards the downtown area where
he has to climb to above a 20 story building in less than a minute.
And to clarify, the hurricane is not here yet.
We are just getting some of the outer bands of wind.
The Hurricane is not expected to reach us till morning.

I was out taking pictures of the planes that have been left behind.
One guy has actually placed about 4x20lbs sand bags on the tail of his
plane.
I'm not really sure that is going to help any.
The partially damaged hanger doesn't look like it can resist anymore
highspeed
winds. And other hangers in the area that survived the first hurricane with
only
the loss of their doors, now have no hanger doors to protect them.
I will try to send you pictures of before and after if I have internet
service.
Pictures of a/c damage caused by Charley are on my site at:
http://www.floridascubadiver.com/hurricane_charley.htm

FSU football player: "When they said the hurricane is coming, I thought they
were talking about the University of Miami."

Dave (KORL)

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:S5m_c.101854$9d6.69565@attbi_s54...
The ASOS at the time that this guy lifted off was
reporting winds at 31kts with gusts up to 47kts.

That's *it*?

Shoot, I've flown in 62 knot peak gusts in clear air in Wisconsin. (Not
that I recommend it, mind you...)

I guess I'd have expected a hurricane to be more, well, windy...

A *hurricane* is more windy, by definition. That guy wasn't flying in a
hurricane.

Also, peak gust isn't really as relevant as the gust amount. I'd say 16
knot gusts are pushing it for the edge of safety, at least in a Cessna
piston engine airplane.

I'd much rather fly in a wind of 57 knots with 62 knot peak gusts (for
example...not saying those are the conditions you referred to) than 31 knots
with 47 knots (though, of course, I'd rather not fly in either).

Also, you don't specify whether you actually departed in "62 knot peak gust"
conditions, or if you were just flying in them. There's a significant
difference between the two types of operation.

Anyway, I'd say that while the guy probably should have left earlier, in
less windy conditions, what he did sounds challenging, but not necessarily
reckless, especially if done by an experienced pilot.

Pete

Also, you don't specify whether you actually departed in "62 knot peak
gust"
conditions, or if you were just flying in them. There's a significant
difference between the two types of operation.

I was a student, flying with my instructor, on my first landing at a
controlled airport. We were landing at Waukesha, WI (UES) in the early
winter, having taken off in clear air with a fairly stiff wind from East
Troy, WI (57C).

While we were airborne, the wind REALLY picked up. At altitude, of course,
we felt no significant difference, but we could see by our ground track that
the winds were truly howling.

As we approached Waukesha to land, we became aware that there was literally
NO ONE else on this -- or any other -- frequency. Descending, the air
became fairly turbulent, but -- as a fairly new student -- I didn't think
much of it. (I figured this, like everything else, must be "normal"...)

Wrestling the plane around the pattern, the tower called out the wind was
340 at 40, with gusts. By now even I, in my "newbie" state, knew that this
was not the norm! As we swung onto final, I realized that the runway was
not getting closer very quickly. Coming down the glideslope, the tower
announced that they had just experienced a "peak gust of 62 knots."

Even Bob -- my crusty old CFII with 20,000 hours in every form of
aircraft -- muttered "Oh, ****" to that.

On short final it became obvious that I was not going to be able to land. I
announced to Bob (my instructor) that there was no way I could land the
plane -- at which point he announced "My airplane!" and took the controls.
With the yoke slapping back and forth from lock-to-lock, and the rudder
pedals going alternately to the floor, we slewed crazily through the air, 20
feet above the runway.

Eventually, after what seemed like an eternity, we touched down with a
not-too-terrible thud, and ever-so-carefully taxied to the ramp. Upon
touchdown, the tower actually congratulated us for making a "good
landing" -- and as we taxied past the tower we could see that people had
actually lined up at the base of the tower, just to see us land our little
Piper Cherokee 140... I'm sure they expected to see us splatter good ol'
N5755U, but it didn't happen that day.

Okay, so *I* actually didn't land the plane, but it was a great, uh,
learning experience. (And very typical of my instructor, who believed he
could fly any plane in any conditions -- and often did. We had many
similar adventures together, and I learned an awful lot from him.

He's retired now, but they just don't make 'em like that anymore. Which may
be a good thing! :-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message news:jpr_c.292038$eM2.33875@attbi_s51...

Even Bob -- my crusty old CFII with 20,000 hours in every form of
aircraft -- muttered "Oh, ****" to that.

He's retired now, but they just don't make 'em like that anymore.

Sounds like my CFII- there's a few of the kind left out there. He's
getting up there in years but is still clear as a bell where it
counts. And the instructors I flew with in Alaska had it, too, and
they were in their 30s. You just have to know where--and how--to look
for them.

Every so often when it's either wicked windy or disgusting low scud I
get a call from Hal. "Wanna go do some approaches? It's raining like
hell out here."

Best,
-cwk.

Every so often when it's either wicked windy or disgusting low scud I
get a call from Hal. "Wanna go do some approaches? It's raining like
hell out here."

Yep, that sounds just like ol' Bob. He did things like:

1. Demonstrate a take-off in 200 foot ceilings, with zero visibility in the
clouds.
2. Followed by a 180 degree blind turn-around, with an immediate landing
back on the opposite runway.
3. Demonstrate that it IS possible to drag the tie-down hook on the
runway -- but you have to be at an extreme angle to do it.
4. Demonstrate how to land in fog by "plowing" an opening in the fog with
repeated passes down the approximate location of the runway.

....and so on.

He's moved to Florida in retirement -- I hope he's weathered the hurricanes
okay.

(And to think all he had to deal with in Wisconsin was blizzards, bitter
cold, and tornados... ;-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Quite a story, Jay. We don't get winds like that too often around here,
but they do come (as you're obviously aware!). Two years ago on the day
I was supposed to solo we had gusts to 55 or so. Nobody flies at
Gran-Aire (Timmerman) these days with anything over 35 knots.

Jay Honeck wrote:

Also, you don't specify whether you actually departed in "62 knot peak

gust"

conditions, or if you were just flying in them. There's a significant
difference between the two types of operation.


I was a student, flying with my instructor, on my first landing at a
controlled airport. We were landing at Waukesha, WI (UES) in the early
winter, having taken off in clear air with a fairly stiff wind from East
Troy, WI (57C).

While we were airborne, the wind REALLY picked up. At altitude, of course,
we felt no significant difference, but we could see by our ground track that
the winds were truly howling.

As we approached Waukesha to land, we became aware that there was literally
NO ONE else on this -- or any other -- frequency. Descending, the air
became fairly turbulent, but -- as a fairly new student -- I didn't think
much of it. (I figured this, like everything else, must be "normal"...)

Wrestling the plane around the pattern, the tower called out the wind was
340 at 40, with gusts. By now even I, in my "newbie" state, knew that this
was not the norm! As we swung onto final, I realized that the runway was
not getting closer very quickly. Coming down the glideslope, the tower
announced that they had just experienced a "peak gust of 62 knots."

Even Bob -- my crusty old CFII with 20,000 hours in every form of
aircraft -- muttered "Oh, ****" to that.

On short final it became obvious that I was not going to be able to land. I
announced to Bob (my instructor) that there was no way I could land the
plane -- at which point he announced "My airplane!" and took the controls.
With the yoke slapping back and forth from lock-to-lock, and the rudder
pedals going alternately to the floor, we slewed crazily through the air, 20
feet above the runway.

Eventually, after what seemed like an eternity, we touched down with a
not-too-terrible thud, and ever-so-carefully taxied to the ramp. Upon
touchdown, the tower actually congratulated us for making a "good
landing" -- and as we taxied past the tower we could see that people had
actually lined up at the base of the tower, just to see us land our little
Piper Cherokee 140... I'm sure they expected to see us splatter good ol'
N5755U, but it didn't happen that day.

Okay, so *I* actually didn't land the plane, but it was a great, uh,
learning experience. (And very typical of my instructor, who believed he
could fly any plane in any conditions -- and often did. We had many
similar adventures together, and I learned an awful lot from him.

He's retired now, but they just don't make 'em like that anymore. Which may
be a good thing! :-)

very typical of my instructor, who believed he
could fly any plane in any conditions -- and often did.


Am I wrong, but hasn't the FAA in recent decades sought to develop flight
instructors who were good teachers, not hot shot pilots who could fly anything
with wings in any conditions??

I haven't instructed in YEARS, but when I went for my CFI and CFII check rides,
they were more interested in my teaching skills than my flying skills.

CFLav8r wrote:


Why this guy waited till 11:25am to leave this area is beyond me.

That's a Cessna for ya man. Try that with a girlie man low wing
Cherokee...instant death.